


Lovely Paris Night

by ugandadistrict9



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Episode - Riposte, F/M, Friends to Lovers, Identity Reveal, Season 2, obviously its all of the pairings but ladrien was the big inspiration
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-17
Updated: 2017-11-17
Packaged: 2019-01-31 22:26:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,556
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12691416
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ugandadistrict9/pseuds/ugandadistrict9
Summary: After Ladybug rescues Adrien from the akumatized fencer Kagami, his infatuation with his secret partner in crime becomes somewhat obsessive. When Marinette overhears, she excitedly goes out as Ladybug one lovely Paris night to seek Adrien's confession of love, but a different outcome is discovered entirely...





	Lovely Paris Night

**Author's Note:**

> Set after S02, E05: "Riposte".
> 
> Try to ignore any errors in the formatting (random bigger spaces between paragraphs, spaces before commas, etc) ao3 always screws me over on the formatting when i try to paste my text in and its hard to fix them all... anyways hope u enjoy ;;

From the start of class that day, Nino knew something was up with Adrien. When the teacher had finished explaining the lesson, she had assigned some questions. Nino got started on them right away, even if bored and annoyed. But Adrien seemed to have other, more pressing things on his mind.

 

His friend was quick to notice his absent-mindedness. He didn't trouble himself with it at first, needing to pay attention himself since the current unit wasn't really his strong suit, and Adrien was pretty capable, paying attention or not. But when Nino started the questions and Adrien didn't, he turned to him, putting his pencil down. 

 

The blond usually paid the most attention out of anyone, trying to do well and get good grades so that his moody, strict father couldn’t remove him from the public school that he hated so much. So it wasn't exactly hard to detect that something was off. “What’s gotten into you?” Nino asked.

 

“Yesterday, Ladybug saved me from an akuma attack,” Adrien explained, looking daydreamy.

 

“Oh, cool! She's cool isn't she?”

 

“Mmmhm…”

 

Nino raised an eyebrow. “Okay, she's cool, she helped you, so what about it? What's causing you to be unable to pay attention?”

 

“She saved my life. And she looked at me.”

 

“She looked at you.”

 

“Yeah…” Adrien was smiling, looking off into the distance dreamily. “Her eyes are so… blue.”

 

Nino scoffed. “Ohh, I see. You've got a crush.” He rolled his eyes, then caught the eye of their teacher, looking up over her paper, right at them. “C’mon, you doof, let's get to the questions before Mme. yells at us.” He punched Adrien lightly in the shoulder and turned back to his work. 

 

“I think I'm in love with her, Nino...” Adrien tapped his pencil against the blank paper. Nino was no longer paying attention. Adrien knew he should have been doing the work, but instead he gushed, leaning into his hand, his head up in the clouds. He couldn't get yesterday out of his mind. Ladybug carrying him like he was the damsel in distress.... It was so different than any encounter he'd ever had with her as Chat Noir. He was usually calm and cool and suave. Not that Ladybug was ever a damsel in distress, no. She was always a fighting warrior like himself. But he still used to saving damsels in distress, not being one. And it was so odd to be treated like a civilian by his partner. It was almost dreamy, having her watch over him and care for him as if he wasn't a superhero. He couldn't get the feeling of her arms around him out of his head. She was so strong, carrying him around like that. He was mesmerized by everything she did. Usually, he had the distraction of being a superhero to stop him from being caught up in her -- he exuded much more confidence with much more ease suited up as Chat Noir, but that day, up against Riposte, before he got to transform he had just been....helpless, to her charm.   
  
“Hey, for number four, did you get 23-” Nino sighed as he noticed his friend hadn't gotten that far yet. He hadn't even gotten to question 1 yet, he was busy staring off into space. “Earth to Adrien,” he waved a hand in front of his face.   
  
“O-oh, sorry,” Adrien apologized, blushing. He leaned over to look at Nino's work on the question. “Yeah, that looks okay to me. 23. Yeah. Sorry. I'll try to keep up.” He rubbed the back of his neck, flustered.   
  
Nino just rolled his eyes with a smile. “You can tell me more about your unattainable superhero crush later, dude, but I'd rather not have to do this for homework tonight.”   
  
“Yeah, fair.” Adrien made a sour comment internally about Nino's use of the word 'unattainable' as he turned back to his work.   
  
He wrote down '1)' in the margin of his paper, and looked over at the question in the book. He read it over a few times, but it just went right over his head. He was still thinking about Ladybug. He'd never really been one to get like this before, all gooey and lovey, but for some reason the feeling he got just remembering that day with his lady was different than any other thing he'd ever felt. She wasn't his lady then; she was a superhero saving Paris, and he'd been but a Parisien.   
  
He saw Ladybug all the time, but almost never when he was himself. He felt different as Chat Noir. The mask gave him all of the confidence that Adrien couldn't have. He took on a completely different persona, not even totally intentionally, and Ladybug's relationship to him was different. It had been absolutely dreamy to have Ladybug care about him so wholly without even a whiff of sarcasm or teasing. Not that he didn't like the teasing -- it was playful and friendly, and he enjoyed his friendship with his lady, but the unfamiliar gentleness was certainly welcome. Gentle, but with a small amount of... shyness? She wasn't really shy, she was still spectacularly confident, but a hint of something similar had been there. She had been assured and brave in bringing him to safety, but a few times when they had locked eyes during physical contact, and he swore Ladybug had blushed. He wondered what the meaning behind that blush was. He wondered if he had even seen it at all, or if it was merely imagined. He wondered--   
  
“Adrien!”   
  
Adrien snapped back to reality, the blankness of his paper glaring up at him. His friend was also glaring a little bit.   
  
“I'm finished already, where on earth are you?”   
  
Adrien sighed guiltily at his friend's expression. “Not here…” he moaned. He turned his attention to his book once again, this time forcing himself to pay attention. He grumbled to himself, flustered about how spaced out he had been. He managed to power through most of the questions before the bell rang.   
  
“Man, you're really whipped aren't you?”   
  
“Oh, hush, Nino,” refuted Adrien as he collected his books to leave.   
  
“At least it's the end of the day now, you now have free time to continue obsessing over Ladybug,” Nino smirked.   
  
“I'm not obsessing…”   
  
“She's beautiful, Nino, her blue eyes, Nino, I'm so in love with her, Nino,” he mocked. “Yeah. Totally not.”   
  
“Hey…”   
  
“Hey, I didn't say anything.  _ You _ said those things,” Nino laughed as they walked out of the classroom and towards their lockers together.   
  


“I didn't…”

  
Adrien was a little flustered, but he really wasn't exaggerating anymore to say that he loved Ladybug. He stood by it. He had been working with her as a superhero for a long time, and he knew her better than Nino thought. He couldn't tell him any of that, though, so of course it sounded stupid to Nino (and anyone else, he realized with a strong twinge of embarrassment, they were speaking at a moderate volume in a hall full of their classmates) for Adrien to be in love with someone who he could only describe having one or two encounters with.    
  
“Okay, maybe I kind of have a little crush on Ladybug,” he said as they walked, voice hushed, and trying to downplay his words from before about love now that he realized how stupid it sounded from an outside perspective. “But can you blame me? She saves our lives, like, all the time and she's pretty cool and awesome, plus she's super pretty, and she carried me like I was her bride yesterday.”   
  
Nino laughed again, shaking his head. “Get well soon, buddy.”   
  
Adrien pretended to laugh it off. Nino walked to his locker and the conversation kinda ended, thankfully. He sort of regretted talking to Nino about his lady like that. He couldn't understand how he loved her without knowing his secret, so he shouldn't have even said anything. He sighed to himself as he gathered his things to go home. He got into his bodyguard's car, feeling a twinge of shame. He felt embarrassed about his Ladybug gushing now and hoped that his classmates hadn't heard.   
  
Little did he know, Ladybug herself was one of the classmates in the hall and had overheard their conversation......

 

…

 

Marinette had barely been able to contain herself when she heard what Adrien had said. She had abandoned Alya with an “okay, see you, bye” and rushed to the bathroom, screaming to Tikki as soon as she rounded the corner out of sight. “Am I dreaming? I must be dreaming!! Adrien... he... ohhhh,” her heart fluttered, she felt faint. “I can't even repeat it, Tikki, I'm going to explode! Did you hear what he said?” She sighed, leaning back against the wall, looking as if she was going to fall over.   
  
“Marinette, there could be other people in here,” the kwami whispered, “you have to keep it down. Keep your cool, girl!”   
  
“I have none…” she sighed dreamily. “Oh, Adrien…”   
  
“Marinette!” Tikki huffed at the flustered, lovesick mess of a girl leaned against the wall of the public bathroom.   
  
“S-sorry.” She blushed. She wished she could handle stuff like this better, but when it came to Adrien, she was an absolute mess. She needed some of her Ladybug confidence right now.   
  
Ladybug.... did Adrien really have a crush on Ladybug? I mean, she had sorta saved his life, but she'd never have thought he'd be obsessing about it to Nino...   
  
“This is so much to handle, Tikki.”   
  
“I know, Marinette.”   
  
“What should I do!?”   
  
“I don't know.”   
  
“I have to tell him.”   
  
“No, Marinette, you can't. You can't reveal your identity over something like this! You can't tell anyone!”   
  
“But Tikki.... we both ... love-” she liked that word, love, “each other.” Then her face fell a little. “But I don't think we can be together with me as Ladybug. A superhero can't just date a civilian. And you can't date someone without knowing who they really are. That's why I can't respond to Chat Noir's advances, either. I don't know him, Tikki. Adrien couldn't date Ladybug without dating Marinette. But I can't tell him, but I can't just leave it as is, but-”   
  
“Marinette, calm down. You're rambling. There isn't anything you can do right now anyways. So calm down, and get out of this bathroom before somebody comes in.” She flew back into Marinette's purse. “We'll talk more at home, okay?” She flashed a reassuring smile, letting Marinette know that she was here for her.   
  
“Okay.... Thanks, Tikki.”   
  
Tikki was right. She needed to cool it and act normal. She could freak out more once she was in her own space. She took a deep breath. “I can do it,” she told herself. “I can do it. Adrien likes me. That's fine, I can handle it. Adrien likes me. Oh my god, Adrien  _ likes  _ me,  _ Adrien _ likes  _ me _ \--”   
  
“Marinette!”   
  
“Sorry!” She laughed nervously, snapping her purse closed with a heavy sigh and struggling to compose herself. She stepped out of the bathroom and went to her locker. Alya and the others were all long gone by now.    
  
She collected her books, remembering sourly that she had physics homework to finish from last period, and started home.   
  


  
When she got up to her room she dropped her bag on the floor and immediately flopped onto her bed. Tikki flew out of her purse.    
  
“Oh, Marinette.” Tikki smiled, shaking her little head. “What am I gonna do with you?”   
  
“What am I gonna do with myself? I'm a mess, Tikki. And now I'm never going to stop thinking about Adrien. He could be mine, Tikki,” she whined, dramatically hugging a pillow to her chest. “But he doesn't love Marinette, he loves Ladybug. And I can't tell him! What do I dooooo-”   
  
“Marinette, you're making a big fuss out of it when we don't really know if it's serious or not. You know you can't just reveal your identity, it's dangerous! I know it's hard, but you shouldn't jump to conclusions right now. I know you're serious about Adrien, but he could just have a fleeting crush for Ladybug. We should wait and see how this plays out.”   
  
The girl sat up on her bed. “Maybe..... maybe I could... talk to him about Ladybug? As Marinette.”   
  
“Maybe.”   
  
“I could get him to confess his love to me! I mean, to Ladybug.”   
  
“That's great, Marinette!”   
  
“But, I'm not good at talking to Adrien. It'd be too totally obvious that I wanna marry him, I'd probably even say that, or something even more embarrassing. I'm so clumsy, I'm even clumsy with my words, oh gosh.”

 

“Aww, don't get discouraged. I'm sure you'll find the confidence to talk to Adrien. You've done it before lots of times! I think it's a good idea to be totally sure of how he feels about you before you jump to any big ideas like revealing your identity here, ok? You'll even have an easy time since he doesn't know the girl he likes is you, and you could probably convince him to ask ‘her’ out!”   
  
“Ask me out? Oh, I'm going to die! There's no way I could survive that! A date with Adrien!” She couldn't hold back an excited squeal at that, cupping her face in her hands to try to calm her raging hot blush. “I don't know how I could get it to work, but it is a genius idea, Tikki. I should do that. But it might be a while before I work up any kind of confidence to talk to Adrien about crushes…” Marinette sighed again, flopping down into her back back on the bed.   
  
“One day, girl.”   
  
“One day,” repeated Marinette, smiling as her kwami flew towards her, landing in her open palm.   
  
Tikki smiled. “Now come on, lovesick ladybug, you've got homework to attend to.”

 

….

 

The next day, before Marinette even got the chance to talk to Adrien, Alya was already on it. Of course, anything Ladybug was her field of expertise. When Marinette arrived to her first class that day, Adrien was turned in his seat to talk to Alya, behind him, sounding embarrassed.   
  
“What's happening here?” She asked as she approached, pretending not to know exactly what was going on.   
  
“Adrien is in love with Ladybug!” Alya exclaimed.   
  
“No, that's not true-”   
  
Alya laughed. “We've all seen Ladybug. C'mon. It's a surprise I haven't heard others saying they’re in love with her yet.”   
  
“What?” asked Marinette, stopping in her tracks.   
  
“She's amazing, and a superhero! Come on! She’s always saving Paris, aka, all of our asses. And she's been in our school so many times, we've all been lucky to see her up close! She is pretty.”   
  
“Pretty?” Marinette gaped. “Uh, pretty! Y-yeah! She's quite pretty…” she laughed nervously as she took to her seat beside the brunette.   
  
Alya giggled, turning back to the poor blond boy. “So, Adrien…”   
  
He looked really embarrassed. “Yes, Alya?” he asked, waiting for the teasing to resume.   
  
“I just had an idea. You're like, a famous model, right? Does Ladybug know you?”   
  
“Uh, yeah, actually,” Adrien smiled a little beneath his reddening face. “She said that... she recognized me from the ads.”   
  
“Oh, perfect!!” Alya grinned.   
  
“And what are you plotting, exactly, Alya?” Marinette gave her a look.   
  
“Nothing, nothing, only the greatest Ladyblog scoop of ALL TIME!”   
  
“What?”   
  
“When Adrien is on his date with Ladybug, he'll find clues towards her true identity, a story I've been working on for the Ladyblog all year!”   
  
Marinette's jaw dropped.   
  
“Whoa, whoa, I never said anything about a date, I'm not going to ask her on a date,” Adrien protested. “Do you really think a  _ superhero _ has the time to go on dates with her fans?”   
  
“Yeah, I don't think so either Alya…” Marinette said. “But, wait, didn't you say Ladybug was a fan of you as well?”   
  
“Not a fan, no way! She'd just seen my face on a sign or two before somewhere, certainly.”   
  
“You sure?” Alya asked. “Ladybug is a very nice girl, I know it. If you asked her on a date she would probably say yes. She couldn't say no to her fans.”   
  
“Really?” Marinette asked. Alya was just giving random made up information about her out freely now.   
  
“Really?” Adrien echoed, seemingly thinking quite seriously about this now.   
  
Marinette blushed. This was her chance! Adrien was thinking about asking her out! “Uhhhhhh, yes maybe Alya is right! Ladybug would love you! I love y- you guys together, seems cute! Ahaha...”   
  
“Hmm. Yes.” Alya paused, looking troubled for a moment, glancing between her friend and Adrien across the table. “But what about Chat Noir?”   
  
“Chat Noir!” Marinette was mortified. Oh no! She hadn't even thought about Chat Noir. She felt insanely guilty all of a sudden, sinking down in her chair. She shouldn't even be thinking about revealing her identity to someone else, it would be a betrayal to her partner. She would be mad if Chat Noir told somebody about his identity, too. And especially since Chat Noir seemed to like her a lot....   
  
“Yeah, Chat Noir. I know he and Ladybug aren't together, but he seems to like her a lot. Wouldn't he be jealous if she…”   
  
“Alya, let's not worry about it,” Adrien said, laughing nervously. He looked a bit uncomfortable, and Marinette wondered why. “I'm not going to ask her out, anyways. I, uh, I think she should be with Chat Noir, and not some fan like me. It makes more sense, doesn't it?”   
  
What!? Marinette sank further into her chair, wanting to disappear in despair.

 

“It's not like it's really a big deal if I have a crush on her, like you said, half of Paris probably does. Same with Chat Noir. I couldn't get in their way like that, it's not my right.”

 

Not his right!? 

 

Adrien liked Ladybug but wouldn't pursue because of Chat Noir!?

 

She wanted to be with Adrien, not Chat Noir! Adrien was sweeter and cuter than that silly cat. The superhero didn't seem really like boyfriend material. Well.... maybe, come to think of it. Being honest with herself, he wasn't that bad. She was harsher on him than she should be. He was a great partner, and she enjoyed being around him a lot. But she just couldn't see him that way, with her sights so set on Adrien.   
  
“Hmm, maybe,” Alya said, taking to her seat. The second bell rang as if on cue, and the teacher started giving a lesson. When the opportunity arrived, Alya leaned over to Marinette. “I'm sorry about trying to get Adrien with another girl. I just got too excited. I brought up Chat Noir to steer him off the path a little. He needs to keep his affections open for you.” She winked.   
  
“Thanks, Alya,” Marinette smiled, but sank further down in her chair. She  _ was _ Ladybug, Alya didn't need to get him to stop liking Ladybug! But maybe it was smart to gain his affections as Marinette instead of relying on her superhero self. She wasn't allowed to tell him her identity, so nothing could really come of him liking her anyways. But she still wanted it to happen. It would be so much easier this way! He couldn't imagine Adrien giving up on the miraculous Ladybug for some clutzy loser like Marinette Dupain-Cheng. She was terrible with words, and would not be able to get Adrien to like her very easily. She almost had an opportunity here and she didn't want to throw it away. She appreciated Alya looking out for her, it meant a lot that she cared, but she didn't want herself and Chat Noir to become a couple.

 

She sighed, shaking her head to pull her attention back to the teacher before she got too lost. She could worry about this later, like Tikki said. There wasn't anything she could do now. She took a deep breath and started scribbling the notes to catch up with Mme. Bustier and the rest of the class.   
  
When the lunch bell rang, Alya got up and went with Nino, as Marinette had already been told would happen. Marinette waved absentmindedly, finishing up a question before she went so she wouldn't get confused about where she left off later. When she finished, she looked up to see Adrien standing in front of her desk.   
  
“Adrien!” She jumped, flushing bright red. “...Hello.”   
  
“Hi, Marinette. Sorry to scare you.”   
  
“No, no, it's okay, you're not scary, I'm just absent-minded, I don't pay attention, haha…”   
  
“I just wanted another opinion. What do you think?”   
  
“What-what do I think about what?”   
  
“Ladybug.” Adrien rubbed his neck, visibly nervous.   
  
“Ohhhh!”   
  
“Do you really think I could tell her how I feel?”   
  
“Uhhh...” Marinette blushed as Adrien looked down at her with those brilliant green eyes. He was talking about HER! Her poor heart could barely handle it.   
  
“Like, Alya said she'd probably say yes to a date, but do you think she could ever like me back? If I did have the courage to really tell her?”   
  
“Yes! She does!” Marinette exclaimed. Adrien seemed surprised, and she promptly corrected herself. “I mean, probably she might, she could, it's possible,” she rambled. Then she shook her head, and regained her composure, focusing in on what was at stake here.  _ Adrien.  _ “I mean, i-it might seem pretty impossible, but you should give it a try. I-it’s better than, just leaving it and not having it... ever amount to anything…” she felt dejected and embarrassed, giving out advice that she did not follow herself. “If you want, that is…”   
  
Adrien laughed. “Okay. Thanks, Marinette. That made me feel better.”   
  
“Y..you're welcome.”   
  
Adrien left the classroom and Marinette was left sitting there, speechless. “Adrien....” she sighed to herself eventually, leaning back in her seat. She giggled, giddy and disbelieving, but bubbly with joy and excitement. Adrien....

 

....

 

“I don't know, Plagg. It's complicated, I know, but I have to! She needs to know how I really feel!”

 

“Relationships are a pain, boy, I don't know how you're so caught up in this. Just tell her then.” The kwami shrugged. “I think she already knows, though.”

 

“Yeah, but I need to  _ really _ tell her how I  _ really _ feel. It'll be hard though, without revealing my identity.”

 

Adrien flopped back onto his bed, annoyed. He wanted to tell Ladybug his feelings… But without telling her who he was, it would be difficult. He couldn't confess as Adrien, for sure, he'd just seem silly, and he had nowhere near enough confidence to. However, it'd be hard to tell the full truth about how he felt as Chat Noir without telling her about their encounter with Riposte. That had really solidified his love for her. 

 

“Why can't I just tell her, Plagg?” he complained. 

 

“You're not supposed to tell anyone, it makes us more vulnerable if there's the possibility of anybody knowing. If Ladybug knows, other people could find out.”

 

“I know,” Adrien sighed, “I know.” 

 

“Adrien, I think you're being a drama queen. You should just go and talk to her right now.”

 

“Now?”

 

“Yeah, sure, why not? Transform, go tell Ladybug you love her. I'm sick of listening to you whine about it,” Plagg complained. Adrien knew he did care, though, at least a little bit.

 

“Maybe Marinette was right,” Adrien thought aloud. “She said that I should just go for it and try, even if it seems unlikely. She had faith in me. I can do it… Yeah, I'll do it! Plagg, transform me!”

 

Plagg rolled his eyes as he got sucked away from his food to transform the stupid boy into a superhero.

 

Adrien, now Chat Noir, smiled to himself in his mirror as he went past, hyping himself up.

 

_ I can do this… I'm Chat Noir. I'm not afraid of anything or anyone. Love doesn't scare me! Ladybug will love me back because absolutely nobody can resist my charm! _

 

He strutted away from his mirror and towards the windows, his usual escape route from his prison of a home. He climbed up onto the roof and then hopped to the next, and the next, continuing until he was a fair enough distance away.

 

“I need to contact Ladybug…” he said to himself, pulling out his staff.

 

He hadn't really considered how to get her to come see him, though, and all of the first things he thought of were lies. It was too early for a night time patrol, and there really was absolutely no danger. He frowned. He shouldn't lie to his lady to get her attention, she'd probably be annoyed and possibly even angry.

 

He looked off the roof and into the Paris evening, hoping to see a criminal or an akuma or an anything. But it was a lovely, average night, and Ladybug was probably spending it doing something fun, as a mystery Paris girl, maybe out with friends or maybe treating herself alone to a fancy dinner. He had no idea what kind of stuff she liked doing. He didn't even know how old she was. Suddenly only doubts were flooding Adrien’s mind. He frowned.

 

Where was she now? What was she thinking about? Certainly not Chat Noir, her clown of a superhero sidekick. She probably had a life or something. She was possibly a high school girl, or even an adult. She’d have no time to spare for a silly kid like him.

 

He sighed heavily. It was a nice night out but he may as well have been caught in the pouring rain with the blue mood he was in.

 

_ Maybe I should just go home…. _

 

….

 

Ladybug, the 9th grader from Chat Noir's middle school, sat inside of a warm house that evening, alone, in a pink room with printed-out pictures of Adrien Agreste taped to the walls, and the smell of fresh baked bread wafting in from the Boulangerie downstairs. She sat in a pink computer chair, and had homework in her lap, but was far from focused on it.

 

“Adrien said he would try to tell Ladybug how he feels! Tikki! I'm freaking out!”

 

“I know, Marinette, you've told me already three or four times.” The red kwami smiled at her silliness.

 

“I don't know where or when he expects to, hopefully the next akuma attack will be at the school, and I'll see him, and I'll save him again, ohh, to hold him in my arms, Tikki!” she gushed, spinning around in the chair. “But that might be a while from now, maybe I should go and see him myself, oh my god I could go and--”

 

Tikki giggled. “Marinette, your homework! You can't just go showing up at Adrien’s door as Ladybug.”

 

“I know,” Mari pouted. She knew Tikki was right, it would be weird to show up randomly at Adrien’s, there was no superhero-ly excuse for that and it didn't make sense for Ladybug to be amourous with Adrien when he didn't know they knew one another personally.

 

“Not until you finish your homework, at least,” said Tikki with a smile.

 

“What??”

 

“You heard.”

 

“No, Tikki, you were right, I can't just show up randomly at people's houses as Ladybug! It'd be totally stupid and irrational, there wouldn't be any excuse, I can't believe I'm even considering it, but can you imagine the look on Adrien’s face if I did, oh my  _ gosh _ , Tikki, can I? Can I really?”

 

The kwami giggled. “You're the master of your own destiny, not me.”

 

“But, wouldn't it be daring and dangerous to my identity? I don't even have any kind of excuse…”

 

“Just dropping in to say hi to a fan doesn't seem dangerous in my book! I'm sure Adrien would enjoy the company!”

 

Marinette picked up her pencil, game face on. She powered through the remaining homework questions and slammed her book shut, jumping out of her chair and twirling around in a circle. “I'm going to go get a confession of love from Adrien!!!”

 

Tikki snuggled against Marinette’s face. “C’mon, girl, get your confidence on. You're gonna need to play it cool.”

 

Tikki knew that this was a bit of a reckless idea, and it was weird that she would encourage it, but she suspected she knew something about Adrien that Marinette didn't, and if it was true, all of this would turn into something very good in the end.

 

“Okay, Tikki, transform me!”

 

With an elegant little dance, Marinette became Ladybug. She went up onto the roof and yo-yo’d off before she could have any second thoughts on the situation.

 

She swung from roof to roof through the Paris night. The night was a beautiful one, as they all were, here.  _ The city of love _ , she thought to herself. She was still feeling nervous about going to go see Adrien now, in both the excited way and in the terrified way. She knew he would be home, as his father didn't seem to let him do much else, so that's where she was headed. She knew the way well enough, having been there a few times both as Ladybug and as Marinette.

 

When she was nearing the building, she spotted a figure on top of a roof nearby. It was quite a tall roof of perhaps an apartment building or hotel. Nobody should really have been standing up there unless they were working construction or something, and there was none of that happening. She swung for the roof, not wanting to alarm the person but feeling curious to know what they were doing so high up there. The person turned around to face her, and it threw her a little off balance as she landed.

 

“Chat Noir!?”

 

“My lady! What are you doing here?”

 

“What are  _ you _ doing here?” the girl accused, placing her hand on her hip.

 

“I was--I was just patrolling the city for the night, of course! I needed to get some fresh air anyways, and what better way than to jump around on some buildings using my super cool cat reflexes. It's fun, you know.”

 

“Most people would just go for a walk, you know. And we usually don't patrol until later--”

 

“Then what are  _ you _ doing here, my lady?”

 

“I- uh- I,” Ladybug faltered. “I-I thought there was trouble somewhere, but I found that it was nothing, and am just on my way home now.”

 

Chat Noir laughed, smiling brightly at her. He seemed convinced by the story, much to her relief.

 

“Come here,” Chat beckoned, and she followed him towards the edge of the building. He sat down.

 

“Paris is beautiful at night,” Ladybug said after a short silence, looking down over her city.

 

“Mhm.” She saw him smile at her in the corner of her vision, but kept looking down at the city. She enjoyed his company, but she still felt a twinge of impatience at having been interrupted in her mission. She was now given the time to have second thoughts about it, and she didn't like them much.

 

“Come and sit, my beautiful lady.”

 

She blushed a little at the compliment, sitting down beside her partner on the cold concrete of the building.

 

“We don't get to spend much time together outside of work,” Chat Noir said. “But I think it's nice to.”

 

“Hmm, I guess you're not so bad, kitty cat.”

 

Chat Noir brightened at the compliment, gaining more and more confidence.

 

“I can't stay long, though,” she said. “I've got important stuff to be doing.”

 

“Wait, Ladybug, before you take off, there is something important I've been wanting to tell you.”

 

Ladybug thought her partner's tone was odd.  Usually he would've said something like “going so soon?” or made some stupid pun or something, but he sounded … serious.

 

“I… don't really know how to say this, haha,” he chuckled nervously. “I think I… I….”

 

“What is it, kitten?” Ladybug prompted gently. He sounded pretty troubled by whatever it was, so she scooted an inch or two closer to him, trying to give a gesture of kindness.

 

Chat Noir swallowed audibly. Marinette had never seen him embarrassed. She would be laughing, but she felt weird seeing him like this, and she wanted to make him feel comfortable.

 

“I wanted to tell you... that, uhm...” Chat Noir's voice was soft and nervous. It was strange. “I like you, Ladybug.”

 

“Like me?”

 

“I-I-” he stuttered. His Lady stared back at him, incredulous. “Yes?”

 

“Chat Noir, this is really sudden, I,” she stammered, at a loss for what to say. She had been thinking about Adrien! She already knew that Chat Noir had a thing for her, but he usually made a fun joke out of it, so it was a lot different to see him nervous and blushing about it. She had never really thought it was all that serious, but now she couldn't exactly ignore it. She felt so awkward.

 

She thought of the advice she had given Adrien earlier that day. If you liked someone, you should just tell them, because regardless of whether it seemed likely or not, there was a chance. She was happy Chat had done that, but she was also very unhappy with the position it left her in. Two boys liking her? It would be a hard situation if she couldn't pick between the two, but it was even harder because it seemed sort of like an obvious choice, and she felt so guilty to Chat Noir for being biased towards Adrien.

 

“My lady?”

 

“I'm sorry, Chat, but, I'm sort of ... struggling through my own love problems at the moment.” As soon as the words left her mouth, she felt terribly guilty. She really thought of Chat Noir as a good friend and partner, and she didn't want to ruin their friendship.

 

“Oh.”

 

Chat Noir was visibly crestfallen, and it hurt Marinette. She couldn't stand rejecting him but what else was she going to do!? And now, it was too late to reconsider; it had already been done.

 

“I’m sorry, don't be sad, I feel bad, I really do, I,” she started to ramble, “I'm not just saying that. You're an amazing friend and I wouldn't be opposed at all to your advance really, but it's just--”

 

A small smile crept back onto Chat Noir's face as she ranted.

 

“--there’s a lot of stuff in my personal life, one that you can't know about, and it's--”

 

“I understand, my lady.”

 

Ladybug frowned at the smile on her partner’s face. It was distressing that he smiled. She knew she must've hurt him, she didn't want him to pretend like it was fine if it wasn't. “Aren't you upset? I upset you, I know, don't smile if you're really upset...”

 

“Of course I'm a little disappointed, but I'm not really going to push if you’re with somebody else already.”

 

“No, no, I'm not...”

 

“What kind of love problems are we talking about here then? A complicated break up? A crush perhaps?”

 

Marinette wasn't sure she wanted to tell Chat about all this, he must've already been jealous and sad enough. The curious look in his eyes and his small smile weren't encouraging to her. She didn't want someone to smile after she'd broken their heart.

 

“Ladybug?”

 

“Why do you wanna know?”

 

“Hmm, just curious. I'd like to know about the lucky guy who's won my lady’s affections.”

 

Marinette frowned. 

 

“What’s wrong, Ladybug?”

 

“I just feel bad. I wish I could be with you, but there's no way I could get over this guy so easily.”

 

“That's all I need to hear, little miss. Don’t feel bad anymore, I'll be okay you know.”

 

“But-”

 

“Nuh uh, no buts. Now tell me about this guy you're with.”

 

“I already said, I'm not with Adrie--” Ladybug slapped a hand over her mouth. “Anyone!” she corrected, her face almost matching the red of her mask. “I-I'm not with anyone, it's just I sorta like someone that I know, and it's confusing, that’s--”

 

“Adrien?” To say Chat Noir was wide-eyed was certainly an understatement. “Adrien who?”

 

“A-Adrien no one, I didn't say Adri--”

 

“Adrien who?”

 

“Adrien…” She was so embarrassed, with Chat Noir staring into her eyes like this with such intensity. Chat Noir didn't need to hear about her crush, it was humiliating. It was just a stupid crush from school, Chat Noir wouldn't care about it, why was he asking? It was embarrassing, randomly being put on the spot like this, and she was confused, so confused. “Adrien A-Agreste,” she squeaked. “J-just a boy I know from my, my life outside of being a superhero, why?”

 

Chat Noir’s jaw dropped. He was totally speechless. He didn't speak for what felt like years.

 

“Chat Noir?” Marinette asked nervously.

 

“Oh, Ladybug. I'm not even sure how to tell you this…” The blond sounded faint, and she was worried that he was going to topple over and fall right off the roof.

 

“Ch-Chat Noir, what are you talking about? You're concerning me.”

 

Much to the girl's surprise, Chat Noir started to laugh!

 

“Chat Noir!”

 

He stopped, the serious, concerned look on his partner’s face really sinking into him. He needed to explain something, but still didn't know what to say. It was such an impossible situation, this. 

 

“My lady, there’s something I need to tell you,” he said, the smile on his face big and proud.

 

“Go on, tell me then.” She was confused, but she ushered him to continue. The way he was acting was so bizarre and she couldn't even imagine what he was talking about right now. She had never seen Chat Noir lose his cool this way before, and everything felt sort of surreal.

 

“Well, it's,” he faltered.

 

“What is it?” she urged him gently.

 

“Don't rush me, my lady, I'm trying to come up with the  _ purrfect _ way to say it.”

 

Ladybug rolled her eyes. Now he was suddenly gonna start acting normal again? “Just spit it out, cat.”

 

“I can't.”

 

“Why not?”

 

“It'd be easier…” he paused, planning his words very carefully. “....just to show you.” 

 

_ Show me? _

 

But before she could ask, Chat Noir’s transformation started to dissolve. Marinette gasped, looking away. “Chat Noir, what are you doing!? We can't--” 

 

But when the transformation had fizzled away, she couldn't help but peek at him. 

 

Staring directly at her, still in a catlike crouch, sat the one and only …..

 

Adrien Agreste.

 

Ladybug almost toppled off the building herself this time. She gasped. She tried hard to speak, but was completely breathless.

 

“W-what do you think, my lady?” Adrien’s voice came tentatively.

 

“Adrien…!” Ladybug’s voice came in a whisper, but her range of emotion was still quite evident.

 

Adrien reached over and took her polka-dotted hand. He was still Chat Noir, but he was shy. So shy. His nervousness was obvious on his face as he read Ladybug’s for some sign of confirmation.

 

Ladybug ‘ohhh’ed under her breath. Adrien tilted his head, a shy little smile appearing. 

 

“Good?”

 

“Good…” she moaned.

 

Adrien’s smile widened.

 

Marinette looked down to try and hide her profuse blush. A million thoughts were in her head but at the same time she was blank. Thinking nothing. She just wanted to sit there holding Adrien’s hand forever and ever. 

 

Then she seemed to remember herself a little. She was still Ladybug. She needed to show Adrien something, too.

 

“Uhm,” she stammered. “I want you to see, uh, the real me, too.”

 

“You’d be okay with that?”

 

“Of course, it's only fair… And you'll find, I'm a bit of a familiar face, too.”

 

Adrien looked on in wonder as the Ladybug suit dissolved to reveal a certain shy girl from his class.

 

“Marinette!”

 

“Y-yes, Adrien?” 

 

The blond pulled her in for a hug. “God, it's you, it's been you the whole time, how could I have missed it! It's so obvious! You're just like her!”

 

“You, too,” Marinette expressed shyly.

 

Adrien looked ecstatic and Marinette's heart couldn't handle it. He liked Marinette too? Ladybug she could maybe deal with, but-

 

“Marinette!” Adrien exclaimed again, holding her tightly.

 

Marinette wished she had something to say back, but she was totally beside herself. This was so much to handle!

 

Adrien ended the hug finally, and when he pulled away, Marinette could see the huge smile on his blushing face. She smiled back.

 

She took deep breaths to try and calm herself, and Adrien caught on quickly. “It's okay, my lady, I'm still recovering too. My heart's beating so fast I don't know what to do.”

 

She didn't know if she'd ever get used to Adrien calling her that. Her heart pounded. Adrien and Chat Noir seemed so different, she never would have suspected it before, but now with the two of them put together, right here before her, it just made perfect sense.

 

“I'm glad that it's you, Marinette.”

 

Marinette blinked. “Yeah?” 

 

“Yeah. I've always… really, really liked Ladybug. And I was sad that I would never get to know her personally. And I was worried to make a fool of myself. But it turns out, I already know her. And she's like my best friend! That's exciting.”

 

“B-best friend?”

 

“Yes, Mari,” Adrien laughed. “You were one of the first people I met at school and I've always liked you. I'm glad it's you.”

 

Marinette bit her lip. “I'm glad it's you, too.”

 

“Really?”

 

“Really.”

 

Adrien looked at her, willing her to elaborate, but she was intimidated by his gaze, and shied away, face burning.

 

_ Just kiss me already, dammit _ , she was thinking, but Adrien didn't know that. He was concerned she didn't like him somehow.

 

“You're not disappointed at all that I’m Chat Noir? You sound like you're pretty into Adrien,” he chuckled, “but, you told me earlier that you weren't interested in Chat Noir, really…”

 

“I am now,” Marinette spoke, a sudden burst of confidence coming to her now that Adrien sounded sad.

 

“Huh?”

 

“I'm interested in him now.”

 

“Really?”

 

“Yes. I love Chat Noir. He might be a bit of a dummy sometimes but he's funny, and his heart's always in it. Maybe I didn't think i was interested before, but that's because I was only thinking of Adrien. Same as how you probably wouldn't have been interested in me before if I asked, because you wanted Ladybug, but now that Ladybug is out of the way, you can give Marinette a chance.”

 

“Hey, you're right. Always smart, my lady, she is.”

 

“Of course.” 

 

Marinette still had a raging blush on her face, but so did Adrien, she realized. She was gradually realizing that she could be comfortable with Adrien/Chat Noir, it was fulfilling.

 

Adrien blushed at her small confidence burst, seemingly remembering for real that she was still the cool, charming Ladybug that he had fallen head-over-heels for.

 

“You know, today went a lot differently than how I expected it, but I'm so glad.”

 

“Y-yeah?” Adrien asked.

 

“Yeah.”

 

“That's cute.”

 

Marinette pulled Adrien in for another hug to hide her face in his chest. They were kind of taking turns being embarrassed now,  _ une à la fois _ .

 

Adrien wrapped his arms around her too, hugging her tightly.

 

“So what does this mean for us?” he asked.

 

“What?” Marinette looked up at him.

 

“We can't really let anybody at school find out, now that I let a fuss be made about my crush on Ladybug,” he said, ashamed. “We'll have to wait until this whole thing about me and Ladybug dies down, or it would make no sense for me to have suddenly asked you out.”

 

Asked her out? Marinette liked that.

 

“They don't need to know,” she decided. “Even though Alya will probably kill me for details when she finds out…”

 

Adrien laughed. “Well, it'll just have to be another one of our little secrets, I'm sure we're both pretty good at keeping those now.”

 

“Uhm, Adrien,” Marinette began.

 

“What is it?”

 

“What, e-exactly, is it that we're keeping a secret?”

 

“Well, our relationshi...” Adrien trailed off, blushing. “Is that how that works?” he asked quietly.

 

“I… I don't know, really, I've never…”

 

“Me neither, I…”

 

They both had a short, light, laugh. 

 

“Uhhh, let's not worry about it then, okay?”

 

“Okay… Adrien?”

 

“Yeah?”

 

“I like this, whatever it is. Let's keep it. Even if it has to be secret. Let's -- Ladybug and Chat Noir -- keep it, okay?”

 

“Okay, my lady!” Adrien agreed brightly, nuzzling up to Marinette. “Oh, looks like the reporter was right after all! Ladybug and Chat Noir, lovers!”

 

“Let's not get ahead of ourselves here, kitten,” Marinette pushed him away playfully.

 

“Hey, careful, you're gonna push me off the roof.”

 

“S-sorry, Adrien.”

 

Adrien burst out laughing at the change in her tone. “Zero to one hundred, Marinette,” he remarked, shaking his head.

 

Marinette huffed, face burning. This was definitely going to take some getting used to.

 

But she was Ladybug!

 

She could take on any challenge.

 

She looked over at the blond, laughing beside her in the Paris night. Her silly sidekick, and her long time crush: the same person. The same Adrien. _Her_ _Adrien._

 

Their kwamis might scold them both later for revealing their identities, but for the moment, everything seemed to be having the perfect outcome, and Marinette wouldn't change it for the world.

**Author's Note:**

> THIS IS MY FIRST MIRACULOUS FIC WOOOOOOOOOOOO
> 
> Also my first anything fic in over a year.
> 
> I love these children so much. My blood sweat and tears are in this work :'). I hope you liked it ♡.


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